Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 13th of December 2015

Case name: 2015_12_13-AEG156
Situation: Alarm Phone in contact with two boats close to Lesvos, both arrived safely on the Greek island
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Aegean Sea

Summary of the Cases: On Sunday the 13th of December 2015 the Alarm Phone was alerted to 2 boats on their way to the Greek islands of Lesvos. We alerted the Greek coastguard about both cases, but finally both of them reached Lesvos independently.

At 0.40am the Alarm Phone received the GPS coordinates of a boat in distress with 50 people on board, close to the south-eastern coast of the Greek island of Lesvos (case 1). Although we did not have more information, we alerted the Greek coastguard in Piraeus, who took the coordinates and promised to take care of the boat. At 7.40am we tried to reach our contact person, but without success. At 8am, in another call with the Greek coastguard, we were told that the boat had reached the island. Finally, at 11am, our contact person confirmed as well, that the group had safely arrived on Lesovs.

Several contact forwarded the coordinates and phone number of another boat east of Lesvos to us at about 10.20am (case 2). We reached the travellers at 10.35am and they told us that they had problems with their boat’s engine. We decided to alert the Greek Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Piraeus because they were already in Greek territorial waters. They took the coordinates at 10.40am and assured us to search for the boat. At 10.45am we informed the travellers on board that we have alerted the coastguard and that they are supposed to be rescued. 45 minutes afterwards we received an updated position of the boat and learned from one of the contact person that the group had not been rescued yet. Thus we sent an additional e-mail to the Greek coastguard at 11.30am, forwarding the boat’s latest position. At 12.48am we talked again to the coastguard in Piraeus, asking for updates. They were not able to confirm the rescue of this particular boat but stated that they had saved about 1000 people on this morning. Thus we also called the local coastguard on Lesvos at 12.52am. They told us that they were still very busy and asked to call back later. At 1pm we asked the contact persons about any updates. But they had also lost contact to the travellers. One hour later, at 2pm, we again called the local coastguard in Mytilene on Lesvos. They told us again that they took care of many boat and that there was no open or critical case in this moment. Although we could not obtain confirmation for a rescue of the boat in question, we realized that the coastguard was too busy to give us more precise information. At 2.50pm we called an activist on Lesvos, who was at the coast in question the whole morning. We learned that the sea was very calm and that many boat had arrived so far. Beyond that, he told us that the Greek coastguard was present, too, and had assisted all boats who had problems. Finally, at 4.30pm, one of our contact persons informed us that the group had also safely arrived on Lesvos. He thanked us for our cooperation in this case.